1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a reinforcement for cloth, and in particular, to a corner reinforcement structure for cloth which enables the cloth corner to endure the dragging force coming from a cord attached thereto and tied to a support, thereby prolonging the life of the cloth.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cloth has many uses and applications. For example, plastic cloth, woven cloth, and canvas can be used to make various camping equipment, such as tents, shade structures, awnings, or other equipment to provide shade, protection from rain, wind and the elements. However, cloth that is textured with warp and weft is susceptible to unravelling in the corners of the cloth.
There are a number of prior art attempts to provide structures to reinforce corners of cloth. Unfortunately, these approaches offer only tolerable solutions, are deficient in certain respects, and have the following disadvantages. First, many prior art reinforcement structures provide only a single hole for cord attachment. By offering only a single cord attachment hole, these structures limit the flexibility and options available to a user of the cloth. For example, in certain applications, where the cloth is lightweight, and the cloth has a relatively small surface area (e.g., a small two-man tent), it may be tolerable to have a single attachment hole. However, there are many other applications where the user may desire or require (i) greater flexibility in coupling the cord to the cloth, (ii) greater support, or (iii) a more even distribution of stress along the cloth, among others. For example, greater flexibility may be needed when the cloth is heavy, has a large surface area (e.g., heavy awning, large tents, or other shade device) or where the support to which a cord is secured is located in an inconvenient location or is otherwise limited in a certain manner.
The single attachment hole also raises a reliability issue. In certain prior art structures, should the attachment hole become damaged or torn for some reason (or for that matter, should the cord or support fail for some reason), the corresponding corner of the cloth will become unsupported without any back-up option, which can lead to collapse of the tent or other structure of which the cloth is a component.
Second, many prior art structures employ rivets, plugs, and other fasteners to attach the structure to the cloth. Unfortunately, these fasteners damage the cloth and have a small contact area, thereby reducing the ability of the structure to effectively grip the cloth and thereby requiring a larger number of these fasteners in addition to other mechanisms for accomplishing this same purpose.
Consequently, there remains a need for a corner reinforcement structure for cloth which enables the cloth corner to endure the dragging force coming from a cord attached thereto, which prolongs the life of the cloth, and which overcomes one or more of the disadvantages of existing reinforcement structures discussed previously.